Spring Seasons from Cylburn Arboretum Friends

S E A S O N S SPRING 2022

B A LT I M O R E , M A R Y L A N D

e W lcome!

Toad Trillium is a native to Maryland. It is a woodland delight found in the spring before the trees block out the sun on the forest floor.

A reddish-purple flower sits in the center of a group of three leaves. The name Trillium refers to the number three, and this plant has three leaves, three sepals (that look like large petals), and three petals. Photo: Desmond Johnson

“If we had no winter the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.”

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– Anne Bradstreet, Meditations Divine and Moral

Prunus x imcamp “Okame” Okame Cherry was developed

by Captain Collingwood Ingram of England with the goal of creating a cherry that had the hot pink to carmine red flowers of P. campanulata but without its sensitivity to cold. Blooming earlier than other cherries, ‘Okame’ is a welcome site in late March.

Photo by Aaron-burden.

e W are well into Spring as you read this. Spring at Cylburn is an ever-changing palette. Brown becomes tinged with pink and red and yellow and of course green becomes the magic that c c c c c and take care to preserve this ongoing miracle. c c c c c growing up the wall on the side of the building. Within days c c by the proximity of humans and appeared to return our gaze c c c c c c hatchlings emerged with eyes that appeared to be twice the c c c c c c to double in size every other day. a D d came by to visit often and then one day an inquisitive squirrel made a try for the nest despite the female dove’s attack. Part of the nest broke off and like that the babies were gone.

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c rebirth. I believe we here at Cylburn are undergoing a period of c c c constantly pinch ourselves to be certain this is real— just like c c c c c c c c c c c window air conditioner where a marauding squirrel would have c c

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c c Cylburn Arboretum rF iends

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BOARD OF DIRECTORS Rebecca Henry President Nancy B. Hill Vice President Hilles Whedbee Secretary Robert A. Cook Treasurer Mariayne Brodnicki Linda Wright Butler Will Clemens Beverly Davis Emily Dillon Alan Gilbert Sandra P. Gohn Mae Hinnant Sorrel King Maryellyn Lynott Jo Middleditch Ramesh Moorthy Douglas Nelson Jack Owens Nell B. Strachan EX OFFICIO Melissa Grim Chief Horticulturist, Baltimore City Department of Recreation and Parks

CONTENTS NATURE EDUCATION CENTER: GROUNDBREAKING AND DEDICATION PAGE 2

2 GROWING BY NECESSITY PAGE 4

4 THANK YOU AND GOODBYE! PAGE 7

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NATURE CAMP: MIDDLE GRADE EXPANSION PAGE 6

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Colleen Vacelet Owner, Intreegue Design SEASONS is published by Cylburn Arboretum Friends Written and edited by Patricia Foster Executive Director Brooke M. Fritz Director of Development Erika Castillo Education Director Brent Figlestahler Head Gardener

THE LADY BALTIMORE STATUES PAGE 8

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Bill Geenen | Communication Design Layout and Design

INTRODUCING SARAH FORD PAGE 9 4915 Greenspring Ave. Baltimore, MD 21209

Info@cylburn.org

MARK YOUR CALENDAR BACK COVER

Phone: (410) 367-2217

Cylburn.org

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Photo by Bryan Vana

GROUNDBREAKING AND DEDICATION

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On April 7, more than 60 community members,publicgures,andCylburn Arboretum Friends volunteers gathered at a groundbreaking and dedication ceremony for our new Nature Education Center.

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Despite the rain, there was a celebratory mood. Patricia Foster, CAF Executive Director, started the remarks by sharing: “This project has been the dream of many people for a very long time and I am fortunate and honored to be right here, right now, to watch and help this dream become reality.”

Baltimore City Mayor Brandon Scott, City Council Vice-President Sharon Middleton and Reginald Moore, Director of Baltimore City Recreation & Parks, all spoke to their personal experiences with Cylburn Arboretum as well as their dreams for the future.

After regaling the audience with a story about burying treasures and exploring the

forests of Cylburn as a young man, Mayor Brandon Scott said, “There are so many hidden gems in Baltimore, and Cylburn is one of them…. There is no place that really showcases all of Baltimore like Park Heights and Cylburn.”

Martha Nathanson shared with the audience that LifeBridge Health has received funding to construct a shared use path from Cylburn Arboretum around Sinai Hospital to the newly redeveloped Pimlico racetrack– strengthening our connection to the community.

Tina Hike-Hubbard, Baltimore City Public Schools, spoke to the importance of nature education for our children. “Many of our students have long faced barriers that restrict their freedom and access to outdoor places. We want to make sure that our partnership with Cylburn allows us to bring more kids out to enjoy nature and all that Cylburn Arboretum has to offer.”

The pictures above are from the Ground Breaking Ceremony held on April 7, 2022. Speakers included Mayor Brandon Scott, City Council Vice-President Sharon Middleton, and Reginald Moore, Executive Director of Baltimore City Recreation & Parks. We also heard from Tina Hike-Hubbard as a representative of Baltimore City Public Schools and Martha Nathanson from LifeBridge Health.

Photos by: Bryan Vana and Alan Gilbert

Rebecca Henry, CAF Board President, closed the ceremony with gratitude and a dedication. “We are so grateful to people like Joy Wheeler, Bob Dwight and Patsy Perlman who were dedicated to nature education at Cylburn for many years.” She

noted that the new building will allow us to continue to make a difference in our corner of Northwest Baltimore before reading the formal dedication that will adorn the entry hallway once the Nature Education Center is complete in 2023:

“With gratitude, the Nature Education Center is dedicated to Patsy and Tony Perlman who were the backbone and constant promoters of the work of Cylburn Arboretum Friends for more than 50 years. The Perlmans, along with others, helped to create Cylburn’s original Nature Museum. This Nature Education Center is the evolution of that dream, a reimagined welcome to the arboretum’s 200-acre natural classroom.”

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Growing by Necessity:

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BY BRENT FIGLESTAHLER, HEAD GARDENER

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Gerard Moudry, human plant interaction, provenance is the Cylburn’srstChief knowledge of how and where a specimen Horticulturist, planted was grown. And also, who grew, sourced, whips and small trees in or collected the plant. To experience a rows, most notably, on the landscape brimming with this much intention southern slopes of Cylburn, and recorded history makes explicit the often setting into motion a chain implicit relationships between woody plants, reaction of investments in the landscape that like trees, and the people treading beneath are still maturing to this day. The trajectory their branches. of all gardens and arboreta is toward growth.

Cylburn, unlike Arnold, does not have the By nature, gardens produce a bounty. They patronage of Harvard University or any produceowers,fruits,divisions,seedlings, academic institutions for that matter. Our hybrids, sports, suckers, runners, and sprouts. education and research efforts cater to In the right hands, a garden’s immensely our visitorship, which consists primarily of productive energy can be harnessed.

Baltimore citizens, BCPSS school students, The question that I’ve been grappling with industrious homeowners, and the occasional lately is how to “grow” an arboretum; a garden enthusiast. We strive to be Baltimore’s question undoubtedly asked by Moudry arboretum.Ourcollectionphilosophyreects and many others doing this important work. the role we hope to play in the community William Friedman, Arnold Arboretum’s and in the region. Informed by our past and Director,sumsupthedenitionofan existing collections, here’s how we think arboretum as “a collection of woody plants about growing in the future. As a horticultural with provenance in a designed landscape.” resource for the public, we will showcase and Iampartialtothisdenitionbecauseits preserve the beauty and value of regionally meaning is derived from a relationship appropriate plants, and model best practices between people and plants. An arboretum, in design and maintenance. We aim to inspire as a designed landscape, is the result passion for woody plants and the consequent of our collective need to interact with stewardship of one’s own greenspace. As a natural landscapes and the explicit desire horticultural resource for industry professionals to learn from that interaction. The idea of and enthusiasts, we hope to advance the “provenance” is an attempt to mitigate the work of plant introduction through trials variables surrounding the nature vs. nurture and public display as we plant for climate paradox. Occurring at one of the poles of change, native introductions, ecological value,

Why your cheese plate is not as “curated” as your local arboretum

and horticultural potential undervalued by the industry.

Our collection priorities can be broken down as follows: DEMONSTRATION OF HORTICULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE: Demonstrate the range and beauty of regionally growable and promising plants within the ornamental horticulture industry. Emphasis is placed on plants with local origins attributed to Maryland and the Mid-Atlantic legacy of nurseries.

DISPLAY FOR PUBLIC EDUCATION AND ENGAGEMENT: Display plants that inspire and excite through varied forms, natural histories, origins, historic value to the property, and ease of educational interpretation.

We believe woody plants are Just as a museum curator great teaching aids for more catalogs, cleans, restores, than horticulture. Collecting and displays artifacts, so too andinterpretingspecically is the nature of our work at forculturalsignicanceallows Cylburn. A collection must Cylburn to reach a broader be strategically planned audience. and maintained for proper health and beautiful BOTANICAL AND TAXONOMIC COLLECTION: display. Collections must be documented or accessioned, Collect and Conserve our new materials sourced, and region's biodiversity with old material removed or a concern for RTE (Rare, deaccessioned. This is the Threatened, or Endangered) work of curation. As we grow plants and representing Cylburn’s collections and their some of our region's most interpretation, we hope you common trees in accessible will have a more meaningful ways. Collections organized by genus or family should also experience of the property.

We hope that the Cylburn be present at Cylburn. When landscape will become collecting taxonomically legible in new ways, and that we will prioritize diversity in your observations here will species rather than cultivars inform your perspective of in an effort to reveal both people and plants in your own diversity and commonality neighborhoods. amongplantclassications.

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“Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts.”

—Rachel Carson

SUMMER NATURE CAMP

AT CYLBURN:

A New Middle School Section

BY ERIKA CASTILLO, CAF EDUCATION DIRECTOR

Where did you love to play outdoors as a child? Do you

S E A S O N S

still remember what it felt like

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to be there? Chances are, your childhood experiences with nature are a part of who you have become as an adult today.

Exposure to nature allows us to develop our own meaningful connections with the earth. It helps us to build relationships with the living world. Through these connections, we feel the desire and responsibility to preserve and conserve nature.

T A N URE CAMP CYLBURN ARBORETUM FRIENDS

Today, children are spending their free time THE ADOLESCENT LEARNER differently than they did even twenty years Do you remember middle school? Perhaps you ago. It is no secret that our lives are becoming hadaterrictimebeinganearlyadolescent more overwhelmed by technology. While the (or being around an early adolescent) but most pandemic has brought some people outdoors, people that I meet roll their eyes when I tell it has also tethered us to electronic devices them middle schoolers are my favorite age to more than ever. From school to home, most work with. Middle school can be a tumultuous students’ lives are saturated with the constant time for students and social priorities can ickerofscreens.Ifchildrenareoutdoors, itis outweighacademicones!Itisa denitely often centered around an organized sport. common time to lose interest in school and

spend less time outdoors. Paradoxically, it is also a time when children are forming serious In his book, Last Child in the Woods, opinions about future career paths, and selfRichardLouvcoinsthetermNature-Decit identify as “someone who loves_______.”

Disorder.Hedenesitas,“thehumancosts of alienation from nature, among them: Our brain plasticity in early adolescence diminished use of the senses, attention is rivaled only by that of babyhood. The difculties,andhigherratesofphysicaland adolescent brain is beginning a round of emotional illnesses.” Elsewhere, Louv argues tremendous change with the ability to create that the more high-tech our lives become, new connections-and these connections will the more nature (“vitamin N”) we need to governitslaterfunction!Childrenofthisage achieve natural balance. He also claims that benetfromsupportiveandcollaborative this vitamin N will enhance physical and relationships with caring adults (who are mental health through the mind/body/nature not their primary caregivers). They are also connection. In a study by the Journal of the intensely oriented toward their peers. They American Medical Association (JAMA) of over want to be together and learn with their peers, 5,000 children ages 10-14, it was found that and doing so helps their development. screen time doubled for adolescents during (continued) the pandemic for non-school activities from 3.8 hours/day to 7.7 hours/day on average.

N AT U R E D E F I C I T D I S O R D E R

What better time to restore this balance than now?

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S E A S O N S

S U M M E R N AT U R E C A M P F O R MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS

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Camp will include a balance of both structured time for learning and less structured time for games, exploration, nature art, and nature This summer we are offering a new Summer journaling.

Our nature learning will be led NatureCampweekatCylburn,specically for by our camp staff: myself, returning camp Middle-school age students entering grades 6-8!Thiscampoffersauniqueopportunity director and BCPSS teacher Jim Ritter, and a number of visiting scientists who will share for early adolescent learners to connect with their work while leading us in explorations of nature alongside their peers and counselors the 207-acre “living laboratory” that is Cylburn who love the outdoors.

Arboretum!Engagingwiththesescientists, I have been a middle school science teacher whoworkintheeldsofconservationand myself in three different school districts and biology, will provide the campers with a have come to understand the particular needs deeper understanding of the natural world and strengths of this group, and the immense and perhaps insight into some future careers opportunity we have at this age to connect aswell! children with science and the natural world.

Check out the bios of some of the scientists When students are given opportunities to who will be spending time with us. One of participate in learning experiences in nature, they use all of their senses which, according to our guest scientists, Christopher Blume, will accompany us during our evening session, Louv, is the “optimum state of learning.” wherehewillleadusinabatwalkatdusk!

MICAH MILES, PH.D.| Staff Scientist, Healthy Harbor Program Manager Micah joined the Waterfront Partnership in 2021 after completing her doctoral degree at the University of Georgia in Integrative Conservation. Micah is an urban wildlife ecologist with experience studying urban reptiles and amphibians and the communities that seektoconservethesetaxa.SheisacertiedAssociateEcologist and Associate Wildlife Biologist with a passion for inspiring others to experience the natural world around them, from wherever they are, exactly as they are. Micah is responsible for coordinating water conservation initiatives in the inner harbor, such as water quality sampling, habitat restoration projects, and environmental education and outreach.

CHRISTOPHER BLUME

Note: When asked what this is a photo of, he replied “It's hard to see in the picture but those are the eggs of saltmarsh sparrow which was one of the species I was studying over the summer.”

is a graduate student at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County in the Geography and Environmental Systems program. He isalsopartoftherstcohortoftheICAREprogram(Interdisciplina Consortium for Applied Research in the Environment) at UMBC, which looks to bring diversity and inclusion into the environmental sector along with environmental community engagement. The aim of his research is to use native bats species to look at the distribution of heavy metal pollution around Baltimore City. To do this he will be collecting and sampling bat guano from roosting sites, to use for his analysis. To increase bat populations, roosting sites, and sampling opportunities, he will be installing bat houses at locations around the city. By collaborating with local parks, schools, urban farms and gardens, he hopes to better understand the distribution and impact of these pollutants as well as environmental justice issues within these communities. Chris is also partnered with these groups to include ecological educational programming to help foster community based environmental stewardship.

CLARE MAFFEI is a native bee biologist at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife/U.S. Geological Survey Native Bee Inventory and Monitoring Lab on the campus of the Patuxent Wildlife Refuge in Laurel, MD. Her work is dedicated to identifying native bees, teaching on the value of our native pollinators, and helping communities make pollinator-friendly decisions.

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Thank You & Goodbye to Our Interns Over the past few months, we have had two incredible Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) interns working on projects to make the visitor experience at Cylburn Arboretum more pleasurable.

Our Illustrated Map

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Dannie Dzialo created an illustrated, educational map of Cylburn Arboretum.

Working with us up until their nalmomentsasasenior Illustration major, Dannie was always looking for excuses to draw plants and animals. We loved watching the creative process unfold.

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streamforthersttime.In addition, seasonal delights like our daffodils, the peak season for bird migration, and the emergence of paw paws on our trees are listed in chronological order so that it is easy to determine “what not to miss” when you visit Cylburn.

since we wanted to create illustrated stories for young people visiting Cylburn.

With titles like What is a Habitat to What is an Arboretum, Maya has created four thoughtful, funny, educational booklets that we hope students will enjoy reading. All of the booklets Thank you, Dannie, for all are set at Cylburn Arboretum yourincrediblework!!Mapsand they all take place on the In the past, we have created same day, with our two main mapswithspecicfocuses:will be available by June in kiosk boxes and will also be characters exploring different trails or gardens etc.. The distributed to local schools. topics together. The colorful goal of this new map was to comic-style illustrations make combine all that information Graphic Stories: The scientictopicsaccessible. into one family friendly

Science of Living Things

takeaway. The front of the Thank you, Maya, for creating map focuses on the cultivated Maya Henderson is a talented stories that we will be using illustrator and comic artist areas of the park and foryearstocome!Thanksto highlights everything from our whojustnishedherthird a Park & Play grant we will be year at MICA, pursuing a BFA tree collections, to magical printing both the map and in illustration with a minor spots like the stumpery, to Maya’s work to be used and in sequential art. Her goal trail heads. On the back of distributed from our future after graduation is to work themap,visitorswillndafull Nature Education Center. in children’s publishing and and updated trail map that includes things like the ravine comics—aperfecttforus

A detail of the Cylburn Arboretum map by Dannie Dzialo, in process.

An exceprt from The Science of Living Things, by Maya Henderson, in process.

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S E A S O N S

THE LADY BALTIMORE STATUES

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To visit the Cylburn Arboretum in northwest Baltimore is to see almost two centuries of Maryland business, social, institutional and natural history unfold on a high hill overlooking the Jones Falls as it runs from a spring in northern Baltimore County to the Chesapeake Bay. The Lady Baltimore Statues at Cylburn Arboretum have a long history that started in 1879 when the city threw an elaborate celebration on the 150th anniversary of the town charter. As part of the commemorative event, Herman Henning was commissioned to create four Lady Baltimore statues to be placed at each corner of the ornate old Saint Paul Bridge.

Until 1960, the monuments greeted travelers as they crossed over the Jones Falls on the way in and out of downtown Baltimore. In 1960, the bridge was renovated as part of the Jones Falls Expressway project and the ladies were moved to new locations in subsequent years.

In 1974, one of the four was sent to the city of Baltimore, Ireland, as a gift from the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick Society. Two of the ladies found new homes in Cylburn Arboretum. A third sits in Mount Royal Terrace Park.

Our pair of Lady Baltimore statues sit on the north lawn of Cylburn Mansion and they are layered with symbols of their namesake city, including a terrapin and a caduceus. In April, they received a spring cleaning thanks to the Preservation Maryland’s Baltimore City Historic Preservation Fund.The Ladies are radiant against a backdrop of spring blossoms.

INTRODUCING

SARAH FORD Sarah Ford joined our team in April as the Volunteer CoordinatorandOfceManager.

We are so excited to have her withus!Sarahhasspentthelast four years pursuing a degree in Environmental Science, so she adds a fun perspective to our team meetings whether we are discussing the collections or Market Day. When we asked her, ‘Why Cylburn Arboretum?’ she shared “I wanted to be part of a place dedicated to making nature education accessible to everyone—especially Baltimore City residents. I also love the idea of organizing volunteers in this beautiful space. I have a lot of experience as a volunteer myself, so I am eager to give the CAF volunteers the support they deserve.”

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4915 GREENSPRING AVENUE BALTIMORE, MD 21209

MARK YOUR CALENDAR MAY 18: WEDNESDAY WALK EVENTS PAGE MAY 21: ZEN WALK MORE INFO MAY 22: YOGA HIKE MORE INFO MAY 22: JANE AUSTEN’S GARDEN GATHERING PRESENTED BY EVERYMAN THEATER MORE INFO MAY 28: YOGA ON THE LAWN MORE INFO MAY 29: FAMILY WALK, STREAM EXPLORATION EVENTS PAGE JUNE 4: YOGA ON THE LAWN EVENTS PAGE

THANK YOU

We can’t thank you enough for being part of our community at Cylburn Arboretum Friends—your support and participation is the foundation of our success.

Looking for more ways to be involvoed?

Do you know someone who would enjoy being a member as much as you?